Max Dowman provided a goal and an assist as Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win over Girona in their first preseason game in front of fans.
After a breakout season in 2025-26, the 16-year-old looked a class above most of the Catalonian side on Saturday and was instrumental in the Gunners’ opening goal as he skipped between Lass Kourouma and Álex Moreno to feed a perfectly-weighted through ball for Kai Havertz.
The German, who scored Arsenal’s final goal of last season in their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, found himself one-on-one with Paulo Gazzaniga and made no mistake, sliding the ball beyond the former Tottenham goalkeeper to open the scoring in the 16th minute.
Arsenal doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark as their other winger, Christos Tzolis, scored on his debut after arriving for £34 million ($45.7 million) from Club Brugge.
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Receiving the ball from Riccardo Calafiori, the Greek international cut inside Arnau Martínez and saw his low shot deflect off Alejandro Francés and into the net.
Martínez would make amends five minutes into the second half when he rose highest in the box to power home a header from Kim Min-Su’s corner, but that was only the first goal of a remarkable five minutes of play.
Dowman provided the spark again three minutes later as he received a line-breaking pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly, before cutting inside and driving a low effort beyond Gazzaniga from the edge of the box.
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Girona wanted a free kick for a foul on Moreno in the build-up, but referee Marta Huerta de Aza waved away the protests.
Two minutes after that, Arsenal added another as the hosts struggled to play out and Ben White‘s interception ricocheted into the path of substitute Gabriel Jesus, who poked the ball home.
A total of 26 substitutions throughout the game ensured a scrappy end to proceedings, but Arsenal saw out the victory and are next in action against Real Betis in Dublin on Wednesday.
